What a brutal way to lose a championship baseball game.
Hornell (New York) High School thought it had wrapped up Section V Class B1 championship on what appeared to be a called third strike and began celebrating its victory.
There was just one problem.
Because Hornell’s catcher didn’t catch the pitch, he needed to tag the batter or throw to first base to complete the play.
In video of the play, the catcher swipes and misses the batter and the umpire signals safe.
At that point, the catcher dropped his mitt − presumably with the ball − on the ground and joined most of his teammates in celebrating near the mound.
In the meantime, the batter ran to first base while two other baserunners − they were on second and third at that time in the seventh inning − raced around the bases to score and give Palmyra-Macedon High School a 6-5 victory and the title on Saturday.
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The video of the play, of course, went viral.
In the video, at least one of Hornell’s infielders realizes what’s happening and tries to get the attention of his teammates as they are celebrating but to no avail.
The announcer on the video sounded as confused as many of the Hornell players as two runners crossed the plate.
“Oh wait a minute. Hornell’s got to pay attention,” the announcer says. “I’m not sure what’s going on here. … So, is this the way it’s going to end? Wow.”
